


on the nature of daylight

by filthysynapsid



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Blood, Gen, idk just musing over the ending i guess, it really wasn't meant to get as long as it did
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 07:46:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10658079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/filthysynapsid/pseuds/filthysynapsid
Summary: Ignis’ face softens, and he reaches out to touch Prompto’s shoulder. His aim must have been off; his hand is met with another, guiding its intended place. A gentle, reassuring touch is all that he can give now, knowing what lay before them. “Let us go to our king.”





	1. Chapter 1

The first time dawn breaks in ten years, it is not gentle. Ignis lifts his head, feels the sunlight touch his face in striated patterns and burn his skin. The rain has stopped, but rivulets still runs down his cheeks and catch at the corner of his lips. It tastes like salt.

“ _Hey, Ignis. You can sense light, right?”_

“ _To a degree, yes.”_

His breath shudders, but he forces himself to keep his chin up, to watch dawn rise over Insomnia. It was what he promised to do for the one who sacrificed too much for this future. For the one who no longer stood among them. Nearby, he knows, Gladio and Prompto stand in silent vigil, realization hanging heavy in the air between them.

The dagger in his hand feels heavy and he considers letting it slip from his grasp. As useless as it is to him now, his fingers refuse to move. He felt the moment his weapons lost their connection to Noctis, to the power of Kings that allowed him to pull them from the ether. In the same instant, the daemons had vanished, and so too had the need for the weapon. Ten years wasn’t enough to prepare him for this.

“How are we fairing?” he asks, because he has to.

He hears footsteps—made heavy by injury, no doubt—on his right and Gladio’s voice, strained from exertion. Or perhaps grief. “Pretty banged up, but we’ll live to see another day.”

“That is fortunate,” he says.

He does not feel fortunate, but he can’t think about that now.

Ignis turns as he hears Prompto’s boots scuff the pavement behind him. Prompto breath comes out shaky, and it takes him a moment to speak. “He really did it. We should.. We should go see, right? He could be—”

Ignis’ face softens, and he reaches out to touch Prompto’s shoulder. His aim must have been off; his hand is met with another, guiding its intended place. A gentle, reassuring touch is all that he can give now, knowing what lay before them. “Let us go to our king.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a prompt from a tumblr ask and it wasn't supposed to be more than a few hundred words, but alas here we are. it's a little more than i expected. idk i might update this and make it better sometime
> 
> you can find the original post [here](http://devilbringr.tumblr.com/post/157160511972/pt1).


	2. Chapter 2

Gladio doesn’t even make it to the throne room before his legs give out. Prompto’s at his side before he falls, a protective arm around his chest, holding him up until he can stand on his own. It’s the first time Gladio’s had the chance to get a good look at him since the fight started. Prompto’s eyes are puffy, red-rimmed. The dirt on his cheeks has streaks through it, like he’s been crying—or it could’ve been the rain. Gladio doesn’t want to think about it.

“Hey, buddy, no time to get weak knees,” Prompto says.

Gladio snorts. “Right.”

Prompto’s brows draw together, and he worries at his bottom lip. “But seriously, though, are you going to be able hold up?”

Ignis stops ahead of them and looks back. He’s not any better off than the rest of them, uniform torn at the shoulder, watered-down blood stiffening the fabric. His face will have more scars when it heals. “Shall we rest a moment before we proceed?”

It’s always been one step at time. Make a plan and execute it. Simple. Shield the prince, kill some Niffs, take back the crystal, save the world. The plan, however, didn’t include the death of his best friend. Now Gladio’s left with no plan, no one to shield.

“I’ll hold up just fine.” After a moment he adds, “Would’ve been a lot worse off without you, Prompto.”

Prompto lets go of Gladio and gives him a lopsided smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, patting his chest affectionately. “What’re friends for?”

Gladio swats his hand away. “Let’s just get this over with, Iggy.”

“Very well.” Ignis takes a moment to adjusts his glasses, readying himself. “I believe we are ready, then, to go beyond this door.”

The memories of this place pass like ghosts through Gladio’s mind. How many times has stood right here, pushed those doors open, and met his duty head on?

He clenches his fists at his side, missing the weight of the sword that is forever out of his reach. His legs feel like they’re melded to the floors, unable to move forward. This is the first time he fears what is on the other side.

Ignis and Prompto fall in line with him, shoulder to shoulder. He looks at them both and feels his throat constrict. The people he loves most in the world, minus one.

“We’re doing this together,” Prompto says, then nods. He looks over Gladio’s shoulder. “Right, Ignis?”

“Just the way we started this whole adventure,” Ignis agrees.

“We can’t keep him waiting.”

The dawn lights spills out of the throne room as the three of them open the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like i said it got longer than i thought.
> 
> original post can be found [here](http://devilbringr.tumblr.com/post/157218228227/pt-2).


	3. Chapter 3

Noctis sits on the throne, haloed by light. Crystal fragments twinkle in the air like stars. Some land in his hair, like a crown. Prompto looks at Noctis until his vision blurs and Noctis disappears. Tears slide down Prompto’s face, his neck, and into the collar of his shirt. He can’t breathe, tries to breathe, but it catches in his throat. Noctis told them that this was how it was going to be, but Prompto hoped it would be different, that Noctis would walk down the staircase, smiling. He clutched that thought desperately in his hands, in his heart, until that hope was shattered by the light of dawn.

It feels like forever before Prompto raises his head, but he doesn’t look at Noctis again. Prompto’s eyes are red and raw, and his chest aches, like his ribs have been cracked open and its contents ripped out.

His heart’s on the throne with a sword through it.

Prompto gave his heart to a boy as lonely as he was, gave it to him when he held that letter from Luna, wrinkled and worn at the creases, in his hands. He rubs the back of his hand over his eyes and turns his back to the throne. Ignis clutches his glasses in one hand, and the other covers his face. Prompto touches his arm, curls his fingers in his sleeve.

“Hey,” Prompto says weakly.

Ignis trembles under Prompto’s hand. “I—I did not want to hope.”

“We all hoped.” Noctis came back from the dead once. In the span of a day they had gained all they had lost, and then lost it again. The sun’s light streaming through the window is cold on Prompto’s skin.

“It wasn’t supposed to end like this, he wasn’t—” Gladio looks away from Noctis, hands clenched at his sides.

Ignis breathes in, holds the air in his lungs like he doesn’t want to voice what he’s about to say. “We have to move forward. That’s what he would’ve wanted.”

“Right,” Prompto agrees, a hollow feeling settling in his stomach. “Move forward.”

“How the hell am I supposed to move forward? I dedicate my whole life to him, and he wants me to move forward _now_?”

Gladio’s words feel like a punch in the gut. The world feels colder, not warmer, with the sun in the sky. Noctis was their light, and without him, their world is dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost done! wow i can't wait for this pain and suffering to end.
> 
> original post can be found [here](http://devilbringr.tumblr.com/post/158527981422/pt31).

**Author's Note:**

> this was a prompt from a tumblr ask and it wasn't supposed to be more than a few hundred words, but alas here we are. it's a little more than i expected. idk i might update this and make it better sometime
> 
> you can find the original post [here](http://devilbringr.tumblr.com/post/157160511972/pt1).


End file.
